Friday, April 3, 2020

Prosser and Chelan

Sept 8 -  10, 2019
      Well this is the final trip of the year for us and what better way to do it than in Washington  Wine Country. We made all of our usual stops in Prosser visiting our membership wineries and others. We spent one day in Kennewick exploring antique/junque stores and having a great lunch at Tagaris Winery. We found another cute box for me to sand and refinish at one of the shops.   
     Back in Prosser we visited Barrel Springs WInery, one of our favorite stops. Jim, the owner has the winery up for sale. They always have a great sale on one of their wines. We bought a case of their Syrah.

Sept 11- 13, 2019
     In Chelan we visited our regular places and found a couple new tasting rooms. We had been a club member at Lake Chelan Winery for years and decided we would quit this one and find another. We decided on Tunnel Hill. This winery is smaller and has a great selection of wines that are reasonably priced. We feel this is a good choice for us.

Sept 14, 2019
     This has been a terrific year for us. We drove a total of 8381 miles in all kinds of weather


Long Beach and McMinnville

August 13, 2019
     We went to Long Beach to see if things have changed since we were there last. The kite festival starts the end of the week so the town was starting to get busy. We went into town to get some chowder and fish and chips at one of our favorite places. It was good but not as good as we remembered which is usually the case.
August 14, 2019
     We went to Astoria to check out a couple of sites and have lunch. We went to the Rogue Brewing Co and had some really good beer and pizza. Of the three places we wanted to visit, 2 were closed. Back at the park we sat out enjoying the sunny day, although it was a bit windy.
August  15 2019
     After breakfast we went into town and walked the boardwalk. There was a lot of kiters on the beach. We went to the Lost Roo for lunch. This is a real nice place with a good selection of brews and food. We were glad we stopped here.

August 16, 2019
     We drove to McMinnville, OR to stay at the Olde Stone Village RV Park. This is a very nice park that is pretty new. Our mission was to explore the wineries around town in the Dundee Hills area. We spent 3 days visiting wineries and tasting rooms. We discovered a winery that Fancis Ford Coppola purchased so he could have Pinot Noir added to his legacy. The label is Domaine De Broglie.
     We had a great time on this trip and will do it again .

Lakeside, MT, Grand Teton NP, Caldwell, ID and Cascade Peaks

July 16, 2019
We drove to Lakeside, MT to see Steve and Geraldine at the lake property. Steve and his neighbor Jeremy have a pontoon boat rental business and a couple of the boats came in so I helped clean them up and get gas in them. He and Geraldine fixed us a really good dinner of Pad Thai chicken and fried rice.
     In the morning Steve came over and invited us for a ride on his 4 seat Razr UTV. We had a great ride into the hills around Hauser Lake. Some of the time on dirt roads, other times on dirt and gravel trails. We had a great time. About half way into the ride we stopped on a hill top and had a real nice lunch Geraldine had packed for us. 



Back at the property we had dinner and sat around the fire to top off the evening.

     After breakfast Thursday Steve and  I went to bring a couple boats to the storage yard. Then we all got into one of the boats and went to his property at Soup Creek. We spent a few hours playing with the dogs, eating the snacks they brought and just chillin. When we went back to Lakeside we had to drive into the wind but all and all it was another great day.
     Tomorrow we drive to Alpine, WY which is near Grand Teton NP

July 19, 2019
     After we got set up we drove into Alpine to check on a place for dinner. We found a cool western bar that had prime rib as their special. It was pretty darn good.
July 20, 2019   
After breakfast we drove to Jackson Hole, about a 25 minute drive. Jackson is a cool tourist town that was really booming. Lots of shops with memorabilia, restaurants and people. The park in town center is very cool with antler arches at each of the four entrances.


For lunch we went to the Snake River Brewing Co. I went with their Spicy Beef and Buffalo chile. The food and drink were great. Back at the RV park we sat out and met some of our neighbors.
     On Sunday we went to see Grand Teton NP. Teton Village is the tourist center for the park with lots to do. We walked around the village and proceeded into the park. The road was quite rough and not completely paved. The Grand Teton mountains are amazing. They are not like Cascades or Rockies. They are very rugged and sharp.

During our drive we came upon Jenny Lake. This is a beautiful lake with the clearest water I have ever seen in a mountain lake.

The total drive through the park was about 100 miles and very worth it.
Tomorrow we are driving to Caldwell, ID

July 22, 2019
     The drive to Caldwell was nice and all new territory. We came here to visit with Sheryl and Tony Sherry. Sheryl is one of Gail's best friends. Tony has ALS and has been confined to his bed for about 5 years. He recognizes us and is expressive when we are there. I always help Sheryl around the house with projects and chores, This trip I assembled a Traeger Smoker for her. It is always good to see these folks.

July 27, 2019
Today we drove Prosser for the night before going to Packwood and Cascade Peaks for our annual family gathering

July 28-Aug 1 2019
We got to Peaks just after noon and got set up and went to where Tracy and family and the Hughes' had their campsite set up. We made plans to go fishing during the trip and discussed shared meals. Our fishing trips were pretty fruitful so we had trout at one of our dinners. 
One of the days we got into our vehicles and drove to the Windy Ridge Observation Point of Mt St Helens. We stopped at four other places to view the remnants of the eruption. It was a beautiful day for the drive and very interesting. When we arrived at Windy Point we hiked up a rough stair case to the top of the Ridge. I think I counted about 400 stairs. We had talked about visiting this area before and I am glad we finally did it. 
We had a great time as usual on this trip but we realize that its probably time to move on after doing the Peaks trip for years. The park is getting more run down and too many of the tenants are full timers and work there living in really run down rigs. Good Bye Peaks. It was great while it lasted.